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QATAR TOTAL OPEN

February 24, 2020

Maria Sakkari

Doha, Qatar

M. SAKKARI/J. Goerges

6-4, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Can you just talk through the match today, it seemed like a very good performance from you against a very difficult opponent.
MARIA SAKKARI: Yeah, I mean I think Tom and I came up with a great game plan, because last three times I played her I lost, obviously. So had to be clear, with what I had to do on the court and it seemed like it worked perfectly.

So I think I just followed the plan perfectly, so I think it was really good.

Q. Can you talk through a little bit about what maybe you felt like you were able to execute or do better today than in the previous three matches?
MARIA SAKKARI: I think also the surface suit me better here, so it's just that I served a little bit better, didn't have so much in my mind about breaking her, because she has a big serve.

So if my chances were coming, I was taking them, but I tried to attack more and be more aggressive, just to take off a little bit of time and that's it pretty much.

Q. Breaking into the top 20, how difficult has it been and how do you feel now and do you feel yourself a little more under pressure to stay there in the top 20 and do you think you could make the top 10 soon or how long would that take?
MARIA SAKKARI: Well, if I knew how long it would take I wouldn't be a tennis player (laughing), but, yeah, I mean, it's a great achievement, it's a great first step for me.

But as I said multiple times, I believe in my abilities and I believe that I can be even higher than that. Of course it gives me a lot of confidence, but actually no feeling of pressure that I have to win matches to keep the level.

I know that I will have good moments, I know that I will have bad moments, so as long as I can just eliminate the bad moments I will get higher.

Q. You've been working with Tom for a while now and I'm curious for you, like how has -- because when we used to talk to you when the partnership began it was like, We're good friends, same age, I trust him, he trusts me, etcetera. But how has that coaching dynamic kind of changed between you and him over time now with almost like two years under your belt? How different is it now in how you talk to each other and the goals and how he sees your game compared to the start?
MARIA SAKKARI: Well of course I think he sees and I see that I have improved a lot since we first started. But our personal relationship, let's say outside of the court, hasn't really changed. We're still really good friends, I get dinner, we get dinner every day almost together.

So nothing has changed outside of the court, just inside we have both seen an improvement so we're just trying not to get too excited about it, we both believe that I can get even better and higher, which is good, and that's it pretty much.

I think nothing has really changed, just that I'm getting better and he's getting more experienced and I'm getting more experienced as well.

Q. If your strategy works of course you feel very good about it. Now how often has your strategy worked in matches and you will probably need to plan a lot more against the top players now. So how is it, how are you approaching that now?
MARIA SAKKARI: Yeah, I mean when you play the top players you know that you don't have many chances against them, you have like one or two chances in the match and you just have to take them. If not, then you lose the match.

Which is good because I realized it and I realize that this year I've lost all my matches in three sets, all my matches had chances to win the match and I could clearly see that if I don't take that chance it's over against the good players.

So having a clear idea on what I have to do and not stressing too much in the important moments is the key.

THE MODERATOR: All right. Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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